Oil Field Data and Industry Opinions Important to the Commercialization of Solar Thermal Enhanced Oil Recovery

摘要

This evaluation report consolidates in a single volume a summary of the salient heavy crude field data as well as the industry opinion and attitude information concerning Solar Thermal Enhanced Oil Recovery (STEOR) which were collected by the five petroleum consultants and reported in six separate final reports. In addition, this report provides a critique of the accuracy and utility of the collected data, and highlights the data gaps which exist because requested data was unavailable or not collected. Although not the primary purpose of this report, the information made available by the data search does allow the reporting of some conclusions concerning the size of the potential STEOR market, the identification of the fields that are more likely STEOR prospects, and the feasibility of high solar fraction operation on the four California fields covered by the data search. The combined effort by the petroleum consultants was initially intended to be a precursor to a full-scale STEOR market study. The initial efforts were to support a DOE judgement concerning the advisability of such a market study and would provide such a study with an initial data base. These objectives have been fulfilled by the survey results by (a) indicating that the four oil fields covered by the data search are indeed a sizable STEOR market prospect, and by (b) providing a considerable data base, as well as by (c) highlighting areas for which added data requirements need to be addressed by any market study to follow. 14 references, 3 figures, 31 tables. (ERA citation 10:001846)